Butchering, Sausage, and the Light Plant

Since Grandma didn’t write a diary entry today I’m going to share a couple of my Uncle Carl’s favorite memories of his mother:

After we had butchered a couple of hogs for our meat supply to last about 6 months in the future, a large amount of sausage needed to be canned in glass jars. The sausage was fully cooked before it was put into the jars. How do you think that a sandwich made of fresh home-made bread and that sausage tasted after walking home from school 2 miles away? She was a good cook in addition to being a good Mother!

Building that once housed the McEwensville School. It was a 1-8 school when Carl attended it. (When Grandma was a student, the building housed both elementary and high school grades.)Recent photo of Main Street, McEwensville. When Carl was a child he would have walked past these houses on his way home from school.

When I was a child there were no freezers (or bathrooms) at this time. NO PPL electric either, although we had a 32 volt light plant with storage batteries. This gave us light which was good while light plant was running. As the lights got dimmer at night, you just went to bed. Mom had an electric clothes washer, but it drew so much electric that the light plant had to be running while washing. When PPL came there was electric stove, a good washer, refrigerator, running water, and soon a bathroom. Life was better!